


Just Looking For a Home

by HighlyOpinionatedNerd



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slow Burn, Smut, kid x law, kidlaw - Freeform, lots of my personal headcanons, puzzle pieces, story takes place within the Captain Robin AU, these two aren't very fluffy but there is some in there somewhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-08-09
Packaged: 2018-12-09 04:45:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11661891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighlyOpinionatedNerd/pseuds/HighlyOpinionatedNerd
Summary: Allies Kid and Law travel together through a war-torn Grand Line. Along the way they have plenty of opportunities to get to know one another, and their relationship slowly develops into something more than simply allies.





	1. Tread Lightly

**Author's Note:**

> *Author's Note* This work takes place within the same au as my other fic, To Change the Tides of Fortune. For those who haven't read that, here's what you need to know: Law has allied himself to Kid rather than Luffy. The two worked together to assassinate Doflamingo, thereby unintentionally plunging the entire Grand Line into war. Where this story begins, they are on their way back from the assassination to rendezvous with their crew members.

It was midmorning when Kid woke up. He could tell by the bright sunlight streaming through the porthole directly onto his face, thus making it impossible to keep sleeping. Not that he didn’t try. But it was no use. He was up, whether he liked it or not.

Grumbling, he sat up and stretched. A quick glance showed him that the other cot in the cabin was empty, which was not a surprise, but did nothing to improve his mood.

He stood up and started making his way towards the door. The cabin was so small, he had to turn sideways and shuffle between the two cots. Add the fact that the floor was littered with dirty clothing and other miscellaneous stuff, and it made getting around a bit difficult. Especially for someone who’d just woken up.

But somehow he managed it, and exited the room without tripping and falling on his face. Out the cabin door he went, onto the deck.

Law was there, of course, sitting against the starboard railing and surrounded by books as usual. He looked up at the noise of Kid opening the door.

“Well well,” Law said sarcastically, “look who’s awake. It’s not even noon yet. I’m impressed.”

“Shut up,” Kid muttered. He shuffled over and sat down heavily opposite Law. Their boat was so small that his long legs almost reached the other side. “I don’t need fucking criticism from some freak who never sleeps.”

Law merely shrugged and went back to his reading.

Kid leaned back, fighting to contain a yawn. He ran a hand through his hair a couple of times, just to keep it from flopping into his eyes.

Normally, he would have styled his hair before he even left the cabin. He would have done his makeup and put on proper clothes, too. Hardly anyone outside his crew had ever seen him like this. It’s not that he was vain, but he did care about his appearance, and didn’t like other people seeing him before he decided he was ready for them too.

None of that applied to Law, though. The two of them had been travelling together in their little boat for weeks now, and Kid simply didn’t care anymore. The older man hardly seemed to pay attention to his own apparel, let alone anyone else’s. Kid could afford to take a few minutes to wake up properly before messing with his hair.

“Do we have any food?” he asked, even though he guessed he could anticipate the answer.

“Nope,” Law said, eyes still on the book in front of him. “You want breakfast, you’ll have to fish for it.”

Kid scowled. “Why am I always the one doing the fishing?”

“Because. Your powers are conveniently suited for it. Much the way mine are more suited to preparing whatever you catch.”

Kid’s scowl deepened. Law was right. He hated it when Law was right. “Argh, fine. I’ll get around to it in a little bit.”

Law didn’t reply. There was silence on the deck, but for the sound of their singular triangular sail catching the morning breeze.

If there was one thing Kid had learned about Law over the past few weeks, it was that he didn’t really like small talk. Or any talk, for that matter. He liked the quiet, whereas Kid preferred there to be at least some level of background noise almost constantly. This had proved to be a real problem at first, until they had figured out a sort of balance between the two.

And after a while, Kid had learned that Law being quiet was actually a good thing. When he started talking more, it was a sign that he was trying to distract himself from something. And once that started, it usually led to a downward spiral that ended in him having a melt down about whatever was bugging him.

Kid found Law very hard to deal with when he was having a melt down, and he had made a vow to avoid those as much as humanly possible. He wondered sometimes why the hell he had chosen to ally himself to such a high-maintenance guy.

He sighed. Whatever the reason, he supposed there wasn’t much of a point in worrying about it now. He and Law were too deep into this mess now to ever think about breaking off their alliance.

Deciding that he had wasted enough time doing nothing, he got to his feet and headed back to the cabin, in search of some hair gel and a fishing pole.

 

Even though they had left Alabasta behind days ago, the hot, dry weather of the desert island had stuck around. Being on fishing duty meant that Kid couldn’t slouch down below the railing, which meant that he had absolutely no protection from the vicious sun.

He couldn’t seem to get a bite, either. He was hot, tired, and ridiculously bored. He found himself wishing to see a ship sailing towards them; at least a fight would give him something to do for a while.

“Did you look at the newspaper today?” Law asked from his usual place on the deck.

Kid raised an eyebrow. It was unusual for Law to be the one starting conversations. “No, not yet. Why, anything interesting happen?”

“Three hundred died in a battle yesterday, including numerous civilian casualties.”

“Wow.”

“That’s it? ‘Wow’? Three hundred people die in just one battle, and that’s all you have to say?!”

Kid turned around to frown at Law. “Well, what do you want me to say?”

Law shook his head. “Eustass-ya, those people died because of us. You can’t really tell me you don’t feel responsible.”

“Yes, actually, I can.” Kid snapped. As he’d suspected, they were quickly heading towards melt down territory. “Listen, Law, we’ve been over this. _This is not our war._ It was always going to end up like this, one way or another.” He turned his back on Law once more. “It would probably be a lot fucking worse if Doflamingo was a part of it. You know that. So, really, we did everyone a favor by taking him out before this all started.”

“...I guess you’re right.”

“Damn straight I am,” Kid muttered. “You’ve gotta learn to stop letting this stuff bother you so much, Law. It’s fucking annoying.”

“Fuck you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hold on, I think I’ve got something.” Kid held out a hand. The metal fishhook came flying out of the water towards him and, sure enough, a large fish was dangling from it. 

“Here,” he said, tossing the fish to Law. “Stop thinking about the stupid war for a minute and let’s have some food, yeah?”

Law scowled, but closed the book on his lap and set it aside. He picked up the fish, and the air around him began to glow slightly blue as he made ready to remove the bones from their meal. “Let’s try not to burn it this time.”

“Hey, that was your fault, not mine.”

“I think you’ll find there’s blame enough to go around, Eustass-ya.”

Kid shook his head, chuckling. It seemed that they had managed to avoid a crisis, at least for now. Law was like a human bomb, and Kid never knew what was going to set him off.

He turned back towards the water, and cast the fishing line again, the smile slipping from his face. Much as he hated to admit it, even to himself, the war did bother him. Everything about it bothered him.

The fact that they had unintentionally been the ones to set the whole thing off. That it had had such a drastic effect on Law, which in turn affected him. That he was now forced to put his quest for the One Piece on hold.

But the worst part was being forced to admit that, as much as he’d love the chance to go after some of the bigshot pirates of the Line, he and his crew didn’t stand a chance. Even with Law’s help, they would never be able to survive long in an all-out war.

Kid acknowledged that, now that he and Law had created this mess, their only option was to head back to their crews and lay low until it all blew over. But he didn’t have to like it.

 

The night skies of the Grand Line were world-renowned for their beauty. When the weather was clear, so many stars filled the sky that it was almost as bright as day. It was certainly unlike anything Kid had ever seen in the South Blue.

Kid’s navigator was adept at using the stars to determine all kinds of things. A skill Kid had apparently taken for granted. He was rapidly discovering that, to someone without any experience, the stars could prove quite maddeningly unreadable.

“So, we’re here, right? No, wait, fuck, no we’re not. Which way is north again...ok, so we’re somewhere around here?”

“More or less, I think,” Law said, studying the map open between them carefully. “I’m not really that good at this, but that seems about right. Damn, I wish we had a log pose…

“How much longer until we reach the others?”

“If my calculations are right, about eight days.”

Kid raised an eyebrow. “ _Fuck_ this boat is slow.”

“Yeah, that’s for sure. But, eight days isn’t that long. Look, there’s an island between here and there; maybe we’ll be able to stop there and pick up some supplies.”

“Sure. Any excuse to get off this fuckin’ boat already.” Kid sighed, rubbed his eyes. “It’s getting late. Think I’ll turn in soon.” He hesitated for a moment. “You should get some sleep too, Law.”

“Mhm,” was Law’s only response. He kept his eyes fixed determinedly on the map. He always got weirdly sensitive whenever Kid tried to bring up his sleeping habits.

Tonight, he decided he wouldn’t press the issue.

“Whatever. ‘Night.” He turned and walked away, back towards the cabin.

“Goodnight,” Law called after him absently.

Once inside, Kid flopped down heavily on his cot and just lay there for a while. He wondered what his crew was doing, without him. He didn’t like the thought of another eight days on a tiny sailboat with only Law for company.

Kid sighed again, reaching over and flipping the latches on his prosthetic left arm.

_Only eight days_ , he told himself. _Eight days, and then this will be over._

He put the metal arm aside for the night and rolled over, pulling a blanket up to cover his torso. The boat rocked familiarly underneath him, and he allowed his mind to wander.

His last conscious thoughts before drifting off to sleep were of Law, and his unpredictable behaviour. Kid wondered if eight more days would be enough to help him understand Law any better.

Somehow he doubted it, but a small, small part of him remained hopeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A surprising amount of the material for this chapter came out of my experience sharing a room with my little sister when we were younger... thanks for reading the first chapter! Off to a good start, I hope...?


	2. Hold It In

Sunrise was Law’s favorite time of day. He loved watching the sky slowly brighten into pastel oranges and pinks, loved the quiet peace that held everything captive while the sun made it’s appearance on the horizon.

One of the few memories he had of his life before Doflamingo was of watching the sunrise with his mother. Even then he’d had trouble sleeping. On days when he’d woken up early, she’d sat with him until it was time to start the day. 

A sudden, jarring noise interrupted his reminiscences; a flock of birds, calling loudly to each other as they flew. Law took their presence as a sign that they were nearing the island he had spotted on the map the previous night. 

The birds, bright red and blue in color, flew low to the water, continuing to shriek shrilly as they went. He supposed that they were hoping to catch any fish that might be close to the surface. He found himself arbitrarily wondering what they were called. Maybe one day he could pick up a book on birds of the Grand Line, and learn a thing or two about them.

Without warning, the cabin door banged open, startling him. He looked over to see Kid nearly lose his balance and fall tripping over something, trying to get outside.

“Aaaargh. Fuck!” Kid muttered, righting himself. He turned to look at Law and gestured vaguely. “What the hell?”

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” Law asked, trying not to laugh. “Are you talking about the birds?”

“Birds, huh,” Kid said, reaching behind him and drawing his flintlock pistol. “Here’s what I think about fuckin’ birds, squawking at all hours of the morning, waking people up…”

“Whoa there, Eustass-ya.” Law hastily stood up and crossed the short distance to where Kid was attempting to aim his gun at the nearby flock, squinting through the mess of red hair in his face. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. No, give me that. Probably best not to shoot at strange birds in the Line, don’t you think? Could be dangerous.”

Kid glared at him blearily. “Those little shits woke me up.”

“Yes, I know. But it’s still early, Eustass-ya. You can just go back to sleep, if you want.”

“Mm. Sure, whatever. Sleep.” With that, Kid turned around and shuffled back into the cabin, closing the door behind him.

Law went back to his usual place against the railing, shaking his head. After just the first few days of their journey, he had become all too familiar with Captain Eustass Kid’s famous temper. He had also quickly learned not to bother Kid too much before he was fully awake and in full possession of all his mental facilities. Strangely enough, attempting to shoot a flock of birds for waking him up wasn’t even the weirdest thing Law had seen Kid do while half asleep.

In all honesty, for a while he’d been unsure that their alliance would actually work out. He knew for a fact that most of his crew members had expected it to fail. But somehow it hadn’t. Law was just as surprised as anyone else at how well he and Kid seemed to work together.

Law settled himself back down and reopened the book he’d been studying. It was a medical journal, written by a well-respected surgeon from the North Blue who specialized in joint surgeries. Law had already read this one once before; unfortunately, he hadn’t really had much chance to replenish his reading material lately. He guessed there wasn’t any harm in reading it again. One never knew when a detailed knowledge of joint surgeries might come in handy, after all.

Law could often be found reading. It helped him focus his thoughts, stop his mind from whirling out of control. He typically had a lot of things that he needed to distract himself from, these days more than ever. Kid had made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want Law obsessing over the war, so here he was, reading this old medical journal for the second time.

He was finding it kind of hard to distract himself properly when he didn’t have anything new to read, though. He wished he were back on his own ship, with his own personal library. 

_It won’t be long_ , he reminded himself, _just have to hang on for a few more days._

The cabin door opened once again and Kid stalked out, looking highly irritated. “I can’t fucking get back to sleep,” he grumbled, sitting down across from Law and crossing his arms.

“Oh, come on Eustass-ya, don’t be so dramatic.”

“I’m not being dramatic. It’s that fucking porthole, shining sun on my face all the time. We should board that thing up.”

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“Ha ha, very funny.” Kid said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m serious, I’m gonna board it up.”

“Be my guest, Eustass-ya.”

“...Not now. Too tired.”

Law shrugged, smiling. It was nice to know that, if his reading material ever proved too boring, he could count on Kid for entertainment.

Not that he’d ever tell the younger man that, though. He’d rather not start a fight, especially not on a tiny little boat in the middle of nowhere.

 

The rest of the morning passed normally enough. Law stared determinedly at his medical journal, and Kid didn’t bother him. The birds flew away, and there was quiet once more.

Law immersed himself in the hypothetical situations described in the text in front of him. He was confident that he could use his powers to get the same results, but couldn’t help wondering if he could improve the process somewhat…

“Shit!” Kid exclaimed loudly.

Law glanced up at him, distracted. “What are you doing over there, Eustass-ya?”

“Hm? Oh, nothing. Just trying to repaint my nails.” Kid held up a small bottle of matte black polish. “It’s not easy though, with this stupid arm…the fingers are really clumsy…”

Law sighed, closing his book. He moved closer to Kid and held out his hand. “Give me that.”

Kid raised an eyebrow quizzically, but gave Law the bottle anyway. After another moment’s hesitation, he held out his right hand.

With quick, practiced motions, Law wiped away the smudged nail polish that Kid had painted on with his prosthetic hand. Then he proceeded to apply a fresh coat, never once making a mistake.

Kid’s eyebrows raised up further. “Wow, Law. I didn’t know you were so good at this.”

Law shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”

“Someone in your crew makes you paint their nails?”

“That’s ridiculous, Eustass-ya. No, when I was a kid, there was a guy who was kinda taking care of me. He was a human disaster, always making dumb mistakes. I used to do his nails, and sometimes his makeup too.”

“Oh.” Kid cocked his head thoughtfully. “Do you...want to talk about it?”

“No,” Law responded, maybe a little too quickly. He had never said much to Kid about his past, except to mention Doflamingo. He was afraid that once he started to think about Corazon, he wouldn’t be able to stop. The last thing he needed was to get overwhelmed about his past in front of Eustass Kid.

“Well, ok then. Thanks, I guess.” 

“No problem.” Law reopened the medical journal. If ever he had needed a distraction, it was now.

...But it was no good. He’d already opened the floodgates, and trying not to think about his past only made him think about it more and more. He’d spent so much time pressing those memories down, and the thought that he might lose control of himself now was terrifying.

“Actually,” he said, snapping the book closed, “that might not be, um, the worst idea. Talking about it. If you don’t mind, I mean.”

Kid, who had been shaking out his hand while the polish dried, blinked in surprise at Law’s sudden outburst. Then he frowned. “You’re not going to freak out on me, are you? I mean, you’re not going to start doing the pacing thing, are you?”

“I don’t- there’s no ‘pacing thing’.”

“Yes, yes there is. But, if you’re going to talk normally, instead of overthinking things until you flip the fuck out, which is what you usually do, then I don’t mind. That’s probably actually the healthier thing for you to do, anyway.”

“Ok.” Law took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “The guy I told you about, who took care of me? He was Doflamingo’s brother. He recognized that Doflamingo was dangerous, and out of control, and he vowed to stop him at any cost. He started working with the marines, and he probably would have succeeded, if not for me.”

“Wait, wait. This guy was a double agent, yeah? As in, part of ‘Mingo’s crew, working with the marines on the down low. How do you fit in there?”

“I was part of Doflamingo’s crew too.”

“How old were you?”

“I don’t know. Nine, maybe ten? I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”

Kid sat still for a moment, apparently speechless. “... _Damn_ , Law.”

Law shrugged. “I was sick. I was dying. Cora-san saved my life. But in the process, Doflamingo found out about his cooperation with the marines. He...killed him. Right in front of me.”

“So _that’s_ why you wanted to kill Joker so bad, huh? It was personal.”

“Yeah.” Law leaned back, reminding himself to breathe slowly and evenly. He’d never really talked to anyone about this stuff before. It was terrifying, but he felt surprisingly better for having done so. “I didn’t realize the consequences of killing him would be this bad. I should have, but I was too caught up in getting my own revenge. I’m sorry. This war is my fault.”

“Oh, stop it,” Kid snapped, startling Law. “You were doing so good with the whole not-freaking-out thing!”

“Wha- what are you talking about, Eustass-ya?”

Kid crossed his arms, scowling. “We’ve been over this. You wanted Doflamingo dead, and you asked me for help, so we sailed out there and we killed him. That’s all there is to it!” He sighed, looking exasperated. “Look, Law. We’re _pirates_ , aren’t we? We do what we want, and fuck the consequences! That’s kind of our whole deal. You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“You...really think so?”

“Of course I do, you fucking idiot. We killed that dude because we felt that he deserved to die, and that’s that. The rest of the world wants to start a war because of it? Fuckin’ go for it. But that’s not our problem. Get it?”

Law nodded, eyes wide. “Y-yeah, I think so.”

“Good! ‘Bout time! I was getting sick of listening to you feel guilty about something that’s not even your fault.”

“Sorry, Eustass-ya.”

“Yeah, you’d better be.”

They sat in silence for a moment. Law’s brain was reeling with a multitude of emotions and memories. He still felt a bit overwhelmed, but was no longer afraid of losing control of himself.

It was Kid who broke the silence. “You know what we’ve got to do once this dumb war is over, right?”

“Um, no, I have no idea. What is it?”

“We’ve got to keep going,” Kid said, as if it should have been obvious. “I know you don’t care much about making it to Raftel. But we have to make it there, Law. We have to prove that screw-ups like us can still change the world.”

“You want to be the Pirate King that badly, huh?”

“Hell yeah,” Kid said earnestly. “Well, co-kings, I guess. No one would laugh at us ever again, and no one would put us through dumb shit like that ever again.”

Law smiled. “Travelling the Line actually doesn’t sound that bad. Not like I have much else to do anyway, since we killed Doflamingo.”

“That’s the spirit. We’ll make a decent pirate out of you yet.”

Law chuckled. “Thanks for listening, Eustass-ya.”

“Sure, whatever. What are allies for, I guess. Thanks for not having a melt down.”

“A ‘melt down’?! That’s harsh, Eustass-ya.”

“That’s what you do, you have melt downs!”

“Yeah right. How about, instead of insulting me, you get to work catching us some food, hm?”

“We’re out of food again? Ugh. You catch the fish for once.”

“No, that’s your job.”

“Fuck you, Law.”

Law smiled as Kid begrudgingly stood up to go find the fishing rod. He leaned back, leaving the medical journal closed.

He decided he’d try thinking some of his thoughts all the way through for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone go back and reread the part about Law helping Corazon with his makeup, that part is my favorite ^.^ You can expect some action next chapter! Thanks for reading!


	3. Run for Cover

The first thing Law did the next morning, when Kid finally emerged from the cabin, was point out that the island had come into view on the horizon.

Kid, still trying to shake the last vestiges of sleep from the corners of his brain, shaded his eyes and squinted blearily. There was indeed something there, but it was too far away for him to make out any details.

“Do you still want to stop there? We might be able to pick up some food there.”

“Mmm. Sounds good.” Kid stretched his arms above his head, yawning. “D’you know anything about this place?”

“Not really. But I think it’s probably a spring island, and there ought to be at least some kind of settlement there.”

“How long will it take us to get there?”

“We should be there before nightfall. I think.”

“Cool.” Kid settled himself down on the deck. “You’re getting pretty good at this navigating stuff, huh?”

Law shrugged. “Not really. There’s still a huge margin of error in my calculations. The first thing I’m gonna do when we get back is have Bepo teach me a few things. Maybe I should buy a book…”

Kid snorted. “So, I can leave it to you then. Thanks, Law.”

“Oh, shut up,” Law said, but he didn’t seem particularly upset. In fact, strangely enough, he seemed almost cheerful. 

Kid had known that, after the conversation they’d had the previous day, there was no way that things could remain the same between the two of them. But he hadn’t expected Law to react like this. Not that he was complaining; just the opposite, really. This was better than anything he’d dared to hope.

He’d thought a lot about what Law had told him. It had made him look at his ally with new eyes. So much about Law made sense to him now. It was like he’d had a goddamn epiphany.

He wanted to ask more questions- especially about this mystery “Cora-san” who had saved Law’s life- but decided to give it some time before prying. It couldn’t have been easy for Law to share all that with him, after all.

Kid had never thought of him as particularly brave before.

 

Law’s prediction of when they’d reach the island turned out to be pretty accurate. They sailed steadily closer throughout the day. As they approached, they were able to make out some of the details of the unfamiliar island; most of it seemed to be covered in trees, but there was clear indication of a port city around to the north side.

Kid kept a wary eye out, but, fortunately, Law’s good mood persisted. He gradually stopped worrying and started looking forward to stretching his legs properly. In short, everything was going very well.

Until they noticed a marine warship coming up quickly off their stern.

“Do you think they’ve noticed us?” Law asked nervously.

“Of course they have,” Kid said. “The real question is, have they figured out who we are. Which, they probably haven’t. Right?”

Law shook his head. “I have no idea. They might just be heading to the island...Or they might be following us. Or they might have found us by accident. We have no way to be sure-”

“Look out!” Kid jumped to his feet, shoved Law aside, and raised his hands just in time to repel the cannonball the marines had just launched in their direction.

“Shit!” Law scrambled to right himself.

“I think it’s safe to say that they’ve figured us out now,” Kid said. “What should we do?”

“Give me a second, let me think.” Law began pacing, which was what he always did whenever he was especially anxious.

“Ok,” he muttered, shakily running his hand through his hair. “Ok, well, we can’t outrun them, that’s for sure. And we can’t fight them from here.”

“Why not? We could take these motherfuckers, Law.”

“No. Absolutely not, Eustass-ya. See the sail they’re flying? That means someone pretty high-ranking is aboard that ship, and we are not about to engage in serious combat against a warship from a sailboat.”

“You just said yourself that we can’t outrun them. And they’re coming after us looking for a fight! I know you said we’re not supposed to get involved in the war, but I’m not seeing much of a choice here, Law.”

Law merely shook his head, still pacing. After a moment he stopped, gripped the railing. “The island. That’s our only chance now. If we can just stay ahead of them until we get there, we can hide out in the trees.”

Kid balled his fists. Every instinct he had was screaming at him to prepare for battle, and running to hide was the last thing he wanted to do. But he knew that Law was right.

“Ok. Fuck, ok. Can we make it?”

“I think so,” Law said, eyeing the expanse of water between them and the island. “Can you keep those cannonballs away until we do?”

“Yeah.” Kid braced himself in the back of the boat, watching the marine ship closely. “You just do what you can to speed us up.”

“I will,” Law said determinedly, reaching for the ropes that would let out the sail. Behind them, the warship also sped up, seeming to have noticed their intentions.

Kid’s lips parted in a snarl. The race was on now, and there was nothing he could do but wait.

 

Even at their top speed, it took them another twenty minutes to reach the island. The warship gained ground on them steadily the whole time, firing cannonball after cannonball, trying to catch Kid off guard.

Those twenty minutes were some of the tensest of Law’s whole life. They had been caught off guard, outnumbered and outmatched, with no plan whatsoever to speak of. He had no way of knowing if he was making the right choice by trying to run, and it was driving him crazy. 

“Haha, gotcha!” Kid yelled. Law glanced back to see a smoking hole in the side of the warship; Kid had managed to hit them with one of their own cannonballs. “Take that, shitheads!”

Law looked back to the front, trying to gage the distance between them and land. He was steering them towards a thin strip of sandy beach, which gave way almost immediately to a dense forest.

“Law, they’re deploying boats to come after us,” Kid shouted. “How much further?”

“Almost there, Eustass-ya. We’ll beach the boat, and then make a run straight for the trees. Fuck, where’s my sword…” Law rummaged through the mess that had become of his books and papers until he located his scabbarded sword. He sincerely hoped he wouldn’t have to use it, but he definitely wasn’t about to go anywhere without it.

There was a slight _bump_ as the boat finally ran aground. “Let’s go, Eustass-ya!” Law yelled, vaulting over the railing and onto the sand.

Kid spared one more glance behind at the approaching boats, then he too jumped overboard, landing ankle-deep in the surf. “Ah, fuck!” He staggered and almost lost his balance, but Law reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the shore.

“Come on, we have to go!” They took off running as fast as they could towards the relative safety of the trees.

The terrain of the forest proved to be quite difficult to navigate; the ground was very hilly, the trees were packed tightly together, and their feet slipped and slid on a thick covering of fallen leaves. They ran blindly, staying close to each other, trying to stay as quiet as they could.

After a few minutes, they began to hear shouts. First from behind, and then gradually from all around.

“Law, wait,” Kid muttered, grabbing Law’s shoulder.

“What is it?” Law whispered, skidding to a stop.

“I need a second.” Kid bent over, hands on his thighs, breathing hard. “The fucking water...I just need one second…”

“It’s ok, it’s fine.” Law was also breathing hard. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he clutched his scabbard tightly to keep his hands from shaking. “We’re fine. If we keep going this way, we’ll eventually get to the town, and we can hide out there until this blows over. We’ll be fi-”

“ _We got ‘em, they’re over here!_ ”

Kid and Law both spun around. A squad of marines was rushing towards them, raising their weapons, spreading out to surround the two pirates.

“Oh, _shit_.” Law hurried to draw his sword, the faint blue glow of his ‘operating room’ appearing around him.

Kid drew his flintlock pistol. “Can you teleport us out of this?” he hissed at Law out of the corner of his mouth.

“That’s not how it works, Eustass-ya! We’ve got no choice but to stand our ground now.”

Kid’s response was cut off as one of the marines yelled, “Open fire!”, and he was forced to divert his attention to the bullets flying in his direction.

Law dodged a few shots aimed at him, and then rushed forward in an attempt to get some of the soldiers within range of his powers. Most of them backpedaled out of reach, but a few weren’t quite quick enough. Law quickly put them out of commission.

The battle went on in this way for some time. Law had no idea of knowing how long. He and Kid ducked and wove around each other, Kid reflecting bullets left and right, Law trying to trap the soldiers in his little pocket of contained space.

“Eustass-ya,” he called, “focus on that side, there! We might be able to break through.”

“Won’t they just follow us?!”

“I’ve got a plan, you just leave that to- Aaargh!” Law cried out as his side exploded with sudden pain. He dropped to his knees, losing focus for a moment. He put a hand to his side, and felt blood flowing freely from the wound.

“Law!” he heard Kid yell from somewhere nearby.

He felt dizzy and disorientated. Blearily he looked around, trying to figure out who’d managed to shoot him.

“So, the infamous Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law really have teamed up together,” said a voice he didn’t recognize. “I guess I owe Garp that fifteen beri after all.”

Law forced himself to focus on the speaker, despite the overwhelming pain in his side. “Admiral... Kizaru,” he choked out.

“Honestly, I would have expected the two of you to put up more of a fight than this,” Kizaru said, stepping forward. “This is frankly just pathetic. Time to wrap this up.” He raised his hand and pointed it at Law once again, a bright point of light gathering at the tip of his finger.

Suddenly Kid was there, standing between the two of them. Law’s view was partially obscured, but he caught a glimpse of Kizaru dodging hastily out of the way to avoid a knife flying towards his face.

Without waiting to see whether or not he’d hit his target, Kid bent down and scooped Law up, tossing him over his shoulder.

Law groaned as his hurt side was jostled roughly. He must have blacked out for a second, because when he next opened his eyes, Kid was running again, several marines pursuing him. In the background he could see more of Kizaru’s light gathering.

Law concentrated, his only thoughts of getting himself and Kid away. Mustering every last bit of his strength, he _focused_.....

 

There was a flash of blue light, and they were gone. Kizaru lowered his hands, momentarily perplexed, until he remembered that Law’s powers encompassed some sort of short-range teleportation abilities.

“Should we go after them, sir?” one of his men asked.

“Hmmm. No, I don’t think we need to bother,” Kizaru said, rubbing his head. “They aren’t the reason we came here. They aren’t even involved in this war, really. We don’t need to waste time on them.”

“With all due respect, sir, they _are_ still wanted pirates, are they not?”

Kizaru shrugged. “Tell you what, Captain, why don’t you designate some of your men to set up a perimeter at the edge of town. We’ll catch them if they try to leave these woods that way.”

“Yes, sir.”

Kizaru took one last look around. He wondered what could have brought Eustass Kid and Trafalgar Law to this part of the Line, all by themselves. He wondered why they’d tried to run from him. Why they were so adamant about staying out of the war? It didn’t seem like something they’d do, especially not Captain Kid.

He shrugged again and gave his men the signal to move out. It wasn’t his place to wonder about pirates. There was a war on, after all. He had his orders.

He was getting too old for this.

 

Had it not been for the blue light as a warning, Kid likely would have run into a tree. He barely managed to skid to a halt as it was.

Law hadn’t moved them far; merely around the other side of a nearby hill. There were no marines in sight.

Kid carefully lowered his ally to the ground. “Hey, Law, are you ok? Law, stay with me, man. You’re the fucking doctor here. Law, talk to me!”

Law’s eyelashes fluttered. “I’m here, Eustass-ya.”

“Good. Good. Tell me what to do, tell me how to help you.”

“G-gotta stop the bleeding. My shirt...need some bandages…”

“Ok. Hold still,” Kid said. He reached down and easily tore the shirt in half, gingerly pulling it off Law and ripping the blood-soaked fabric into strips.

“You’re a doctor, yeah?” he asked, crudely tying the makeshift bandages as best as he could. “Can you use your powers on yourself?”

Law shook his head weakly. “I’ve lost too much blood. I don’t th-think I’d be able to stay conscious.”

“Tell me how to help you, Law, please, tell me what to do.”

“I need to build up stamina,” Law said. “I just...I just need time.”

“Ok. That’s fine, take all the time you need, ok?”

“I’m just _so tired_ …”

“Sleep then. It’s ok, Law, I’ll protect you. I promise.”

Law nodded feebly and closed his eyes.

Kid sat back, took a deep breath. His hands were covered in Law’s blood, and he had never in his life felt so helpless.

How had everything gone so wrong? They hadn’t stood a chance in that fight. Now Law was hurt, badly, and Kid was powerless to help him.

He picked up Law’s sword- the only weapon either of them had left- and settled down to do the only thing he could; wait and keep watch. Beside him, Law’s breathing was shallow, but steady.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why was Kizaru even on that island in the first place??? We may never know. Thanks for reading, despite that I had no idea what I was talking about for most of this chapter.


	4. Put Him First

Kid sat beside Law all night, sword in hand, biting his lip and using the pain to keep himself awake and alert. Once or twice he was convinced that he heard someone moving towards them, but no one ever came.

The break of dawn caught him by surprise, the light bursting suddenly through the trees. For the first time in hours, he allowed himself to breathe a slight sigh of relief that the night had finally ended.

But he couldn’t relax quite yet. There was still work to be done. “Law,” he murmured, placing a hand on his ally’s shoulder. “Law, wake up. We need to get going.”

Slowly, Law began to stir. He had slept fitfully through the night, but had never once woken up.

“Ugh,” he said, attempting to sit up and not quite making it all the way. “You ok, Eustass-ya? Did anything happen?”

“No. I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Painfully, Kid got to his feet. Every muscle in his body felt sore and cramped. “C’mon, we need to find our ship and get out of here. Can you walk?” He held out a hand to help Law up.

“Of course I can walk,” Law muttered hoarsely, taking Kid’s hand. He staggered to his feet, and almost immediately pitched over sideways.

“Whoa there,” Kid said, catching him before he fell. “Yeah, of course you can fucking walk. Here, lean on me.”

“Eustass-ya, I don’t need-”

“If you argue with me, I swear to god I will pick you up and carry you, Trafalgar Law. Don’t fuckin’ test me.”

“...Fine.”

Together they made their slow way back through the forest, trying to find the beach they’d first landed on. Any trail they may have left the previous day had long since grown too cold for the inexperienced Kid to track. Yet another thing he was apparently useless at, to add to his growing list.

But somehow, eventually, they stumbled through the treeline and onto the sand. Miraculously, their boat was still there, presumably exactly where they’d left it. There were no marines in sight.

“They were here,” Law said, gesturing at the marks in the sand left by the marines’ boats. “Why didn’t they come after us? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Kid muttered. “Hang on, wait here a second…”

He hopped up over the railing onto the deck of their boat, doing a quick check to make sure that everything was in working order. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be broken or missing. “Ok, we’re all good up here.”

He reached back down over the railing. Law grabbed his hand, and Kid pulled him up almost effortlessly. It was a little dismaying how little Law actually weighed.

Instead of setting him down on the deck, Kid wrapped his other arm around and under Law’s body, so that he was holding him princess-carry style. It was a sign as to just how exhausted he was that Law didn’t even bother protesting, merely wrapping his arm around Kid’s shoulders and allowing himself to be carried to the cabin.

Kid put Law down on his cot as gently as he could, then straightened up. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to get us moving.”

“Ok. We need to head that way, away from the town,” Law said, pointing.

Kid went back outside and jumped back down, off the boat. Being careful to stay on the sand this time, he leaned against the hull and _pushed_ , hard. It didn’t take too much to get the boat back in the water.

Once he had set the sail and made sure they were heading in the right direction, he stuck his head back into the cabin.

“What do you need me to do, Law?”

“If you could bring me some water and some clean bandages, that would be great. There should be some in the first aid kit, I think.”

“Sure.” Kid left, returning a few moments later, holding the med kit open in his hand. “Hey, there’s some antibiotics in here, do you want that too?”

“Yeah, thanks.” Law was fumbling with the knots in the makeshift bandages around his torso. His hands were shaking. “Argh, fuck...”

“Here, let me.” The little cabin was just big enough for him not to be able to reach Law comfortably from his cot, and just small enough to make standing impractical. He compromised by sliding onto the floor and kneeling between the two cots, untying and then unwrapping the blood-soaked strips of cloth.

Law splashed some of the water onto another discarded shirt and used it to clean the dried blood from his side. The wound was messy and looked pretty bad, but not nearly as bad as it should have. In fact, if he hadn’t known better, Kid would never have guessed that Law had been shot through the side only mere hours earlier.

“I should be able to patch this up myself,” Law said. “It’ll be a little difficult trying to operate on myself when I can’t see it, but I think I can do it.”

“Won’t that hurt?”

“Yeah, like a motherfucker, probably. But it’s gotta be done.”

“What do you need me to do?”

“Just, stay right there. Let me know if you see anything that looks wrong. And keep me from passing out, please.”

Kid nodded. “You got it. Do your thing.”

“Alright. Here goes.” Law took a deep breath, and then the telltale blue aura began to shine around him.

Kid wasn’t normally squeamish, but Law’s operation was still hard for him to watch. The skin around the wound rippled and moved of its own accord, the internal tissues stitching themselves back together, the affected organs settling back into place. It couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes, but by the end of it Law’s face was pale and strained.

“Why didn’t we bring any _fucking_ pain meds?” he asked, his voice raw.

“Lean forward,” Kid instructed, trying hard not to think about what he’d just seen. “Let me get these bandages on you.”

“I can do it myself.”

“Yeah, mhm. Like you can walk by yourself, right? Lean forward.”

Law scowled, but did as he was told, raising his arms and allowing Kid to wrap him up. “Eustass-ya, do we have enough water to last us the rest of the way?”

“We should.”

“That’s good. Won’t have to stop by the town after all. The marines are probably still there, anyway.”

Kid finished tying off Law’s new bandages. “Yeah, probably.” He stood up. “You must be hungry. I’ll go fishing, see if I can get us something to eat.” 

“No, Eustass-ya, wait.” Law reached out a hand and grabbed onto a fistfull of Kid’s pant leg.

“What? You need something else?”

“Not me. You. You were up all night, weren’t you? You should get some rest.”

Kid shook his head, avoiding eye contact. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not. You’re not good for anything like this. It can wait a little while, Eustass-ya. You should rest.”

“...You’ll wake me if anything happens?”

“Yes. I promise.”

Kid sighed. “Ok. Fine.” He moved over to his cot and flopped down heavily onto it. “Don’t let me sleep too long. Just a little while, and then you have to wake me up, ok?”

“I will, Eustass-ya. Go to sleep.”

Kid lay back, and for once he didn’t even notice the light from the porthole. He was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

 

Law sighed. He wanted to get up and go out on deck, but he didn’t think his legs would support him that far. He was stuck laying in bed, feeling the boat rock with the waves, hoping Kid had steered them in the right direction.

He wanted to see his crew. It had been so long since he’d had any contact with them, and he worried about them. If the marines had somehow found him and Kid, they might have found their crews, too. He just hoped that they were ok.

He looked across the room to where Kid was lying on the other cot. The redhead hadn’t even taken off his boots before falling soundly asleep.

Law remembered when he’d first met Kid; it had been more than two years ago, on Shabondy Island. A fiery, ambitious, young pirate captain, eager to start fights wherever he went. Law hadn’t thought much of him back then. It wasn’t until later, when he had been looking for someone strong to help him with his fight against Doflamingo, that Kid had started to attract his attention.

He’d first approached Kid about forming an alliance on a whim, not really expecting anything to come of it. When Kid had accepted, Law had assumed it was because he also had something he wanted help with.

He’d spent a lot of time with Kid since then, and he had convinced himself that he knew how the other worked. How he thought. What motivated him, and why. But after the events of the past couple of days, he wasn’t sure he really knew Kid at all.

The sheer panic in Kid’s voice, as Law lay bleeding on the ground in front of him, had been entirely unexpected. As had the surprisingly gentle way Kid had supported him all they way back through the forest. The way he’d carried him back to the cabin when Law no longer had the strength to stand.

Law rubbed a hand across his eyes. He still felt a little weak and dizzy, and thinking about this was only making him feel worse. He reminded himself that he wasn’t supposed to be overthinking things, anyway.

Perhaps he’d feel better if he got some more sleep, too. Maybe this headache would go away, at least.

Law closed his eyes. He wasn’t accustomed to sleeping in here. The cots swayed with the slightest movement of the boat, and the sunlight really did shine brightly through that little round porthole.

But he could hear Kid breathing slowly and evenly from the other cot. Somehow he found the sound relaxing.

They slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a longtime headcanon of mine that the devil fruit powers come with some self-preservation instincts. For example, fruit users get weak if they're in ankle-deep water, which could be a result of their body reminding them that they can't swim, so it would be in their best interests to move away from the water. Jedi go into trances when they're badly injured, so their bodies can begin healing themselves; why shouldn't Law's powers be able to work in much the same way?
> 
> Just a bit of an interesting thought for you. Take it or leave it, I don't care. Next chapter, things will be a little more...fast paced, if you know what I mean 0_0;


	5. Take the Risk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Part of this chapter is nsfw! So, don't go reading it at work, or anything like that!

They left the island behind without further incident. The warship was gone from the harbor the next day, and there wasn’t any mention in the newspapers of a battle. Whatever the marines had been there for, they apparently intended to keep it secret. It drove Law half-crazy with curiosity.

The two pirates sailed on in their little boat, slowly but surely approaching their destination. They were back to living off whatever fish Kid could catch day after day, but it no longer bothered them the way it once had. They were just glad to be alive, and relatively safe.

Law remained in the cabin for the next few days, letting himself heal normally. It was a slow process, but he didn’t want to risk screwing something up with his powers. Little by little, he regained his strength.

Kid spent as much time in the cabin as he could. Law insisted that he didn’t need a nanny, and Kid just as stubbornly insisted that that wasn’t what he was doing.

Law didn’t actually mind, though. It was nice to have the company, at least. And it was amusing to watch Kid fussing and running around, trying to take care of him. It was… sweet, in a way.

They never talked about what had happened in the forest. Neither of them wanted to think about it. Instead they shared stories about adventures in the Line, about their crews, about their plans for the future.

Anything and everything to help them put their utter defeat at the hands of Kizaru behind them.

 

“Law, get up,” Kid said, opening the cabin door one evening. “It’s time to change your bandages.”

Law frowned, glancing up from the book he was reading by candlelight. “I can do it myself by now, Eustass-ya.”

Kid ignored him, coming into the room and kneeling down as usual. Law rolled his eyes, but he knew better than to argue by now. He closed his book and set it aside, sitting up and pulling off his shirt. Kid reached out and untied the knot in the last layer of bandages, unwinding them.

“That’s looking a lot better,” he said, indicating Law’s healing wound.

“Yeah, you’re right. Pretty soon I’ll be able to go without wrapping up like a mummy all the time.”

Kid was quiet for a moment as he began wrapping the new bandages. Then he said, very quietly, “I’m sorry, Law.”

Law blinked, caught by surprise. “What the hell for?”

“For not being able to help you more, I guess. For not being able to protect you in the first place.”

“This isn’t your fault, Eustass-ya. None of this is your fault.”

“I know, I know, it’s just...I was scared, you know? I thought you were going to die, and I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Law didn’t know what to say to that. They were silent once again as Kid finished up with the bandages, his head bowed.

“Eustass-ya,” Law said, intending to say something comforting. But then Kid looked up at him, his red-orange eyes catching the reflection of the candle flame, and Law forgot what he’d wanted to say. He leaned forward and kissed Kid, right on the lips.

For one long, horrible moment, he was sure that he’d fucked up. That he’d read the situation between the two of them wrong, and that he had made a terrible mistake. Then the moment passed, and Kid was kissing him back.

Law kept his eyes closed, savoring the sensation. At first they were both a little awkward, a little hesitant, but slowly they grew bolder, kissing again and again, each one deeper than the last.

Law leaned back a little and Kid, taking the hint, pulled himself up and onto the cot, the two of them going down together. Kid’s lips strayed from Law’s, pressing instead into the hollow of his jaw, then up and down the side of his neck. Law tangled his fingers in Kid’s scarlet hair, unable to keep himself from letting out a low moan.

Eventually the kisses weren’t enough, and their hands started to wander, desperate to touch each other, to feel hot skin beneath their fingertips. Law’s hands brushed over Kid’s bare chest, dancing lightly around the deep scars. The fingers of Kid’s one good hand traced Law’s swirling tattoos, giving him goosebumps.

“Can I…?” Kid murmured, his hand hovering at Law’s hip.

“Yeah,” Law answered breathlessly. “Here…” he reached down and clumsily fumbled with the button on his jeans, letting Kid push them down his thighs, exposing his rapidly hardening dick.

Kid paused to hastily remove his own pants, then pressed himself against Law, making him gasp. He felt lightheaded, in the best kind of way.

Slowly, Kid began grinding his hips, his erection sliding back and forth against Law’s. Law moaned again, arching his back.

“Aaah, fuck...” Kid muttered, burying his face in Law’s shoulder. Law could feel his breath, quick and hot, on the side of his neck.

“Eustass-ya….hah...k-kiss me.”

Kid obediently raised his head and did so, his tongue sliding against Law’s.

They were moving faster now, everything wet and slippery between them.

“Law, I’m close, _fuck_ , I’m so close…”

“Mmn, Eustass-ya…!”

Kid’s hand reached down, cupping their dicks together, and Law’s mind went white. He gasped and panted helplessly, pressing himself as hard as he could manage against Kid. He came into the other man’s hand, his body seizing with pleasure. At the same time he felt Kid shudder, ejaculating onto Law’s torso.

For a moment they were frozen, breathing hard, staring at each other. Then Kid released his hold on Law, backing off him and dropping heavily onto his own cot.

As Law’s body began to cool off, his head returned in force, reminding him that he’d just done something incredibly stupid and embarrassing. He put an arm across his eyes. There was a lot that he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure how.

It was Kid who eventually broke the silence between them. “Is...Is your wound ok?”

“Yeah,” Law said, fighting to keep his voice from trembling. “I’m fine.”

“I tried to-I mean, you’re still recovering, so-”

“It’s ok, Eustass-ya, really. It was….good.”

“It was? I mean, good. It was good for me too.”

“Good.”

Another pause.

“...You’re not going to tell your crew about this, are you?”

Law burst out laughing. He couldn’t control it, and he didn’t want to either. It had been a long time since he’d laughed so freely. Eventually Kid joined in, and they laughed and laughed, caught up in the crazy thing they’d just done.

“No, I’m not going to tell anyone,” Law said, once he was able to talk normally. “Please tell me you aren’t going to tell yours. Killer would have my head.”

“Fuck that, no way I’m telling them.”

Law chuckled, finally gathering the courage to lower his arm and look at Kid. “They don’t have to know. At least, until we’re ready to tell them.”

Kid nodded, looking reassured, then yawned. “I think I’ll call it a night.”

“Ok. I’ll just be up a bit longer, if you don’t mind the candlelight.”

“Nuh-uh,” Kid said, “I’m not falling for that again.” Using his good arm, he leaned over and grabbed the edge of Law’s cot, forcibly dragging it across the distance between them, throwing Law off balance.

“Ah! What the hell, Eustass-ya?”

“Last time you said that, about only staying up a little longer, you were up all night.” Kid put his arm across Law’s chest, effectively trapping him. “You need your sleep, Law.”

Law frowned. “Just laying here isn’t going to make it automatically better, you know.”

“I know,” Kid murmured, his voice muffled in Law’s hair, “but you’ve got to start somewhere.”

Law sighed. He was reminded yet again of the futility of arguing with Kid. Besides, he _was_ feeling pretty damn exhausted. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to try to sleep a little while.

Resigned, he moved closer, making himself comfortable. Everything around him smelled distinctly like Kid- funny how he’d never noticed that smell before.

He closed his eyes and just listened to the sound of Kid breathing.

 

Kid was awoken in the middle of the night when Law suddenly sat bolt upright, throwing his arm off.

“Hnn? Law, wha’s wrong?” he mumbled, raising himself up on his elbow.

“I-it’s nothing,” Law said unconvincingly. In fact, he sounded almost scared.

Kid sat the rest of the way up, squinting at Law’s face in the darkness. “You had a nightmare,” he guessed.

Law put his face in his hands. “I’m sorry. I can’t- I didn’t mean-”

“Hey,” Kid said, putting his hand on Law’s shoulder. Law was trembling. “Hey, Law, it’s ok. It’s ok, it was just a dream. You’re right here, you’re with me.”

Law took a deep, shuddering breath. Kid was starting to feel very concerned. He’d never seen Law act like this.

“Come here,” he said, pulling the other man close. Law took his hands away from his face and returned the embrace, holding onto Kid tightly.

“I’m sorry, Eustass-ya. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s ok, you’re ok,” Kid soothed, running his hand up and down Law’s back. “You should have told me about this. I would have tried to help sooner.”

“It’s stupid,” Law muttered, his voice muffled against Kid’s chest.

“It’s not stupid, you idiot. You’ve been through some bad shit, of course you have nightmares. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

They stayed like that, just holding each other, for a while, until Law had calmed down.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Kid asked.

“No.”

“Alright.” Kid lay back down, tugging Law down after him. “Then go back to sleep.”

“Thanks for understanding, Eustass-ya,” Law murmured, sneaking one of his arms around Kid’s waist.

“Mhmm.” Kid closed his eyes, settling back down. “Like you said, it’s not gonna get better right away. It’s bound to take some time. But that’s fine.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was poorly written, I'm still a little new to all this. Maybe you guys didn't know, but writing is really hard. Thanks for reading this and supporting me while I figure out what the krif I'm doing, it means a lot to me!
> 
> Edit: There will be one more chapter, so I hope you'll stick around


	6. Journey's End

“So, that’s it then?” Kid asked, leaning on the railing next to Law. “That’s where they are?”

“Yup, that’s where they are,” Law said. “We’ll be there within a few hours.”

“What’s up with that island? It looks sorta...I don’t know, flat. You haven’t brought me to another fucking desert, have you?”

“No, but it is a summer island. There’s a big city there; we’ll have all we need to get by for a while.”

“How long do you think we’ll have to stay there? I mean, the war can’t go on forever, right?”

“I don’t know. I’m not a historian, Eustass-ya, I’m a doctor. It could go on for days, it could go on for years.”

Kid snorted. “Yeah, I guess you’re the wrong person to ask, seeing as you told me it’d take us eight days to get here and it took us fucking nine and a half.”

“Shut up!” Law smacked Kid on the arm. Kid just laughed. He loved teasing Law, even if it meant taking a hit every now and then.

“I’m gonna go back inside for a while,” Law said. “I’ve got some things to pack before we land.”

“Don’t overexert yourself.”

“I’m fine. Stop fussing,” Law snapped, turning and walking away. Kid watched him go; there was only the slightest hint of a limp on one side to indicate that he’d been shot by a marine admiral only a few days previously.

Kid looked back at the island rapidly approaching on the horizon. He was really, really glad that he’d be reunited with his crew soon, of course, but part of him was just a little bit upset to be ending his solo journey with Law. It had turned out to be a lot more adventurous than he’d expected it to be.

He felt that he was beginning to understand what it was about Law that had first drawn him in. The reason he’d first accepted Law’s proposition of an alliance, before they even knew each other. It was so simple, he wondered why he hadn’t noticed it sooner.

Law was strong. Not the kind of strength that could be seen or measured, but something more. Something down below the surface, that Law rarely ever showed to anyone else. But Kid had seen it several times by now, and it had inspired him somehow.

Law had lived through so much, so many horrible things that most people never had to experience. He hadn’t come away from it completely unscathed, true, but he had come away nonetheless. He had stubbornly refused to be broken by his circumstances, and somehow Kid found that quality incredibly attractive.

Behind him, the door to the cabin opened and Law backed out of it, dragging a lumpy sack of books and papers. “Little help with this, Eustass-ya?”

Kid pushed himself off the railing and made his way over. He easily picked up Law’s bundle, setting it aside to be taken with them when they landed. “Come here,” he said, pulling Law close and leaning down for a long kiss.

“What was that for?” Law asked, reaching up and linking his hands behind Kid’s head.

“No reason,” Kid said, glad Law wasn’t pulling away from him. “It’s just...we might not be able to do that for a while. Openly, at least.”

“Are you ashamed of me, Eustass-ya?” Law was the one teasing now, the small smile playing at the corner of his lips giving him away.

“You know I’m not. I’m just worried that if we rush it, telling them, they’ll think you only offered me an alliance because you wanted to fuck. This is for your own good, you see.”

Law snorted. “Are you sure? Because I think that you’re just afraid they’ll think you knew that, and accepted the alliance anyway. Who has more at stake here, Eustass-ya?”

Kid grinned. “Hah, you win this round, Law. But I’ll get you next time.”

“I’m quaking in my boots,” Law said, finally pulling away from Kid. “Why don’t you go make yourself useful and furl the sail, hm?”

“Ok, I’m going, I’m going.” Kid moved to do as he was told, still grinning like an idiot.

Something told him that, even if the war lasted forever and they _were_ stuck on this island for years, he still had a lot to look forward to.

 

Kid and Law pulled into the harbor in the early afternoon, tying off their ship at the end of one of the island’s long wooden docks. Killer was one of the first ones there to welcome his captain back. 

“I assume your mission was a success?” he asked as Kid stepped onto the dock, hoisting the bag of Law’s books onto his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah. Total success, right Law?”

“That’s, uh, one way of describing it, sure.”

“Good to see you, Killer,” Kid said, returning his attention to his first mate. “How have things been here?”

“Fine. Some of the boys are starting to go a little stir-crazy, though.” Killer didn’t add that he was one petty argument away from adding himself to that ever-growing list.

“Well, here’s hoping the war ends quickly, because we’re stuck here until it does.”

Killer blinked, surprised to hear Kid say something like that so easily. “You’re...alright with the idea of us staying put until then?”

Kid shrugged. “We don’t have too much of a choice, really. I’m not super fucking excited about it, but we’ll be fine.”

“O-oh. Of course.” Killer’s internal alarm bells started going off all at once. He had never, in all his time with Kid, heard the man say anything like that. He had expected his captain to be chomping at the bit to get a piece of the action. What could have happened to change his mind this drastically?

“Captain!” came a tearful shout from behind them. Killer looked around to see Bepo running towards Law, arms outstretched as if to tackle him.

Kid stepped protectively in front of Law, blocking Bepo’s path. “Hey, take it easy, will you? He’s hurt.”

Bepo skidded to a stop. “What! Is that true, Captain? Where are you hurt? Quick, let me carry you back-”

“Bepo, I’m _fine_. Eustass-ya, I thought I told you to cut that out.”

“Sound’s like you had it rough out there,” Killer said, beginning to get a little suspicious.

Kid chuckled. “You can say that again. It was… an adventure, that’s for fuckin’ sure.”

Behind his mask, Killer narrowed his eyes. Now he was sure that there was something Kid wasn’t telling him, and he would have staked his life that it had everything to do with Trafalgar Law.

“I can’t wait to hear all about it,” he said curtly.

Law’s eyes flickered to Killer, then just as quickly flickered away again. He did not look intimidated by Killer’s tone of voice.

“Let’s go see the others.” Law patted Bepo on the arm reassuringly. “Lead the way, my friend.”

“Yes, Captain!” Bepo turned and began making his way happily back up the dock, towards where the rest of the Kid Pirates and the Heart Pirates were waiting for them.

Kid and Law followed, Killer falling in behind them. He didn’t miss how closely Kid stuck to Law, or how Law glanced at Kid, the hint of a smile on his face.

Killer _knew_ there had been something fishy about Law’s alliance proposition, right from the start. But he had never expected his captain to fall for it! And Law was acting somehow different, too…

What the hell had happened to them out there?

 

Oblivious to Killer’s suspicions, Kid and Law walked on, eager to greet the rest of their crewmates.

Even though they had never set foot on this island before, they both knew that they were going home. Home was wherever they were surrounded by their friends and allies, and home was wherever they were together.

And now that they had found a home with each other, they didn’t intend to give it up ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thank you all so much for reading this through to the end, and I really hope that you enjoyed it! I had a lot of fun writing it, and I feel like I've learned from it, too. If you haven't read my other fic, To Change the Tides of Fortune, please consider checking that one out (that's the au this story takes place in). And if you like my work, head over to https://highly-opinionated-nerd.tumblr.com/ask to request something from me!
> 
> Thanks again, everyone! *blows kiss to all the Kid x Law shippers out there*


End file.
